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insatiablewanderlust's review
adventurous
emotional
sad
medium-paced
2.5
**THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS**
I had very conflicted feelings about this book. To just start from the beginning, the front matter seemed longer than it needed to be and more convoluted. I found it hard to believe that a woman married to an abusive man would engage in an affair. I would have scratched that. Her continual longing for Alec was just sad and my eyes started to hurt from rolling them. I couldn't figure out why the book was set in the 80s, but then Viv let her bigotry fall out and it made sense. Viv's homophobia was problematic for the 80s, but if set in current times, it would have been unreadable. Both characters were very unlikeable, and not in a "they have human flaws" kind of way, but in a "this book is pretty hard to stomach" way.
However, this book did have a number of redeeming features. Claire's descriptions of Italy and the art were amazing. When Claire and Viv were viewing Da Vinci's Last Supper, I could feel those walls come up and I was back in that dark, musty room and I could see the painting before me. I could see the aspects that Claire was describing. It was very obvious that art history was Claire's thing and she absolutely thrived in those scenes. I would have longed to see that Claire more throughout the book. I also really enjoyed the offer Claire received in Paris. I think I actually screamed YES! outloud because I was so excited for her. I was a little disappointed that we never actually learned what her decision was. I would have loved an epilogue of Claire and her daughter living their best life in Paris.
It would also have been cute, for those not familiar with all the art pieces discussed, to have pictures of "Claire and Viv" with pictures of the art. Like "these were cute pictures we took on our trip". It would have been a fun inclusion for a fiction novel, while still providing pictures of the art for those less familiar with some pieces. Truly I'd like to give this a 2.5, but I'm going to round to 3 because of my love of nerdy art Claire and her potential.
I had very conflicted feelings about this book. To just start from the beginning, the front matter seemed longer than it needed to be and more convoluted. I found it hard to believe that a woman married to an abusive man would engage in an affair. I would have scratched that. Her continual longing for Alec was just sad and my eyes started to hurt from rolling them. I couldn't figure out why the book was set in the 80s, but then Viv let her bigotry fall out and it made sense. Viv's homophobia was problematic for the 80s, but if set in current times, it would have been unreadable. Both characters were very unlikeable, and not in a "they have human flaws" kind of way, but in a "this book is pretty hard to stomach" way.
However, this book did have a number of redeeming features. Claire's descriptions of Italy and the art were amazing. When Claire and Viv were viewing Da Vinci's Last Supper, I could feel those walls come up and I was back in that dark, musty room and I could see the painting before me. I could see the aspects that Claire was describing. It was very obvious that art history was Claire's thing and she absolutely thrived in those scenes. I would have longed to see that Claire more throughout the book. I also really enjoyed the offer Claire received in Paris. I think I actually screamed YES! outloud because I was so excited for her. I was a little disappointed that we never actually learned what her decision was. I would have loved an epilogue of Claire and her daughter living their best life in Paris.
It would also have been cute, for those not familiar with all the art pieces discussed, to have pictures of "Claire and Viv" with pictures of the art. Like "these were cute pictures we took on our trip". It would have been a fun inclusion for a fiction novel, while still providing pictures of the art for those less familiar with some pieces. Truly I'd like to give this a 2.5, but I'm going to round to 3 because of my love of nerdy art Claire and her potential.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Homophobia
Minor: Child death and Domestic abuse
claudiacardoso's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
4.0
I read this in the dove of roughly 24hours! Granted we are all home with CoVid, but still I thought it was a page turner.
I went in not being sure it it was my kind of book. I thought it was just going to be the tale of a mopey woman running around Europe but it was so much more than that.
The characters are very real and are confronted with their obstacles and life difficulties and through art they begin go heal and find some comfort.
There’s a good bit of information about art history without it becoming boring. It also touches on the AIDS crisis in the 80s, changing roles of women and family dynamics as well as how legitimate different ways of learning as well as coping are.
It was a very easy and entertaining read with depth too it.
I went in not being sure it it was my kind of book. I thought it was just going to be the tale of a mopey woman running around Europe but it was so much more than that.
The characters are very real and are confronted with their obstacles and life difficulties and through art they begin go heal and find some comfort.
There’s a good bit of information about art history without it becoming boring. It also touches on the AIDS crisis in the 80s, changing roles of women and family dynamics as well as how legitimate different ways of learning as well as coping are.
It was a very easy and entertaining read with depth too it.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death and Death of parent
Minor: Addiction
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